Robins Fire Escape Friend
by Queen Of Sheep
Summary: Imagine if Robin made a friend when he was ten, right after arguing with Batman. This friend is always there for him and vice versa. She is his fire escape friend. A way to get away from his problems but a way to get back as well. Imagine the adventures these friends will have. Rated T for possible future swearing but I just don't understand the rating system.
1. Chapter 1

**So this my first fanfic so be nice! Please? I hope you like the concept at least.**

* * *

It was raining, but then it was Gotham. Gotham _always_ rained. The Dynamic Duo had been on a miserable patrol in the cold wet rain. They had argued. Big time. Robin was fed up of being treated like an incapable child. He had been doing the Boy Wonder thing a _whole_ year now and still, Batman treated him like a kid. So he had stormed off, like the big boy he was, which was why he now found himself sitting on a fire escape in a dingy alley.

He was sat there glaring at his communicator, which he had taken out, for who knows how long when he heard movement above him. Deciding to check it out, he silently slipped up the fire escape a few levels.

He was on the seventh story of the building when he could see someone curled up on the level above. The three levels above giving reasonably good protection from the rain, a girl sat leaning against the wall next to an open window. Her legs were brought up to her chest and she had mid-length hair that looked in between a light brown and a blonde color but it was too dark for Robin to clearly see. She sat there without a light source, in her, what looked to be flash, pajamas, watching the raindrops with tears silently flowing from her bluey green eyes and down her cheeks.

Robin didn't know what to do in this situation. Was this invasion of her privacy? Should he make himself known? For the first time in a _very_ long time, the boy wonder didn't know what to do. He was used to fighting criminals, taking down bad guys, being annoyed by paparazzi, as both Robin and Dick Grayson, but not this. Not finding a girl only a year or so older than him crying.

He was startled when she spoke.

"So is the famous boy wonder going to continue staring at me or what?" she didn't move an inch and had a slight sneer in her voice, presumably to hide the sadness, but what shocked him most of all was her accent. She was English. She was _really_ well spoken and very, very English, not a hint of American.

"How long have you known I was here?" he asked before he could stop himself. She turned her head and looked at him.

"A few minutes," she didn't look him in the eye when speaking, "light was reflecting off something shiny on your belt."

"Oh."

What did he say now?

She looked at him once more before turning back to watch the rain. Robin decided on joining her so he climbed the rest of the way and sat next to her. She didn't say anything or go to move. So there they sat for a while until she broke the silence.

"So why are you alone?" he looked away at the question. "Did something happen?" he still didn't respond. She shuffled slightly closer.

"We argued." was all he said. When she didn't respond, but only looked at him, he elaborated. "He keeps treating me like I don't know what I'm doing and he acts as if I'm still new to the whole hero gig, but I'm not!" his voice was slowly rising in volume and he was getting more and more frustrated as he spoke. "I'm not nine anymore! I'm ten years old and I _know_ how to handle myself! Yet all he ever does is treat me like a child!" he huffed, crossed his arms and looked away.

"Well…" she started to reply, "you are still young. Maybe not as young but you're still young and he might just be trying to protect you." she unfolded herself and looked at him.

Robin sighed. "You're mightily mature and sophisticated for a… what? Eleven, twelve year old?"

He looked at her trying to determine her age.

"Eleven, nearly twelve," she answered him. "I have to be mature, ever since my dad… ever since I've needed to take care of my mum, she… she's always working and out the house to pay for us." the tears were back, Robin put his hand on her shoulder to support her, "I learnt to cook our meals and clean the house, I have enough time to… do all that and my homework but it just leaves no room for anything else. It's not like we have the money for anything else, but… we both work so hard for so, so little," she had gone quiet now, "I just wish that we had the chance to be a real family."

They were silent for a minute. Sitting there on the fire escape with Robin supporting this crying stranger.

Silently, he asked.

"What happened to your dad?"

She didn't tense up or anything, she just dropped her gaze and her shoulders slumped.

"He was in love with my mom, bought her everything she wanted so when a few months back he asked her to come to America with him… well, she jumped at the chance.  
"He bought this lovely apartment, no rent or mortgage, it was _perfect_. We had _everything_ we wanted, and then… then… he left. Left us with the apartment that we didn't need to pay for. Left us with a fully prepared house and a fully stocked fridge. Two cars, a perfect life, and a few million pounds. The few million pounds was taken. Some by gangs and the rest has been used to support us so far. My mum has an interview for a proper job but… we will still struggle. My… errm… _hobbies_ , use quite a bit of money. My dad knew that. You see when I say he left, he prepared us. He knew he was going. He taught me to cook and clean. Taught us what we needed. Gave us what we needed." she had gone from angry to sad and now she was so quiet. "I thought he loved us. That's what he told me. He told me he loved me and that this was all because he loved us. I was so tired and sleepy that night, I didn't understand him. I never got to say goodbye because I didn't understand what he was saying. He was gone the next morning. I wish I could find him. Just to say goodbye."

Robin was silent until a thought struck him.

"I could find him!" he turned her to look at him, "I could find him and you can talk to him!"

At her doubtful expression, he explained.

"I'm the _Batman's_ protege, I can use the batcomputer and find him!" he grinned at her and she just stared at him.

"Batcomputer?"

"Oh… uh, yeah," he laughed slightly. "We have that, the batmobile, the batcave, batarangs, so… anyway," he was smiling at her and she actually smiled back,"I can find your dad. It will be so _easy_ with the batcomputer!"

Her smile faded and she looked away shaking her head.

"If my dad doesn't want to be found, he can't be found. He left, he disappeared, he is not gonna appear all of a sudden just because you have a fancy batcomputer." she was upset again. Talk about mood swings.

"Okay, sorry." he didn't really know what else to say.

They sat there, once again, in silence watching and listening to the rain as it lazily fell to the ground.

"You should probably go inside, it's cold out here and you're only wearing pajamas," Robin stated.

"You should probably go back, Batman will be thinking you were kidnapped, _again_." the girl replied standing up to climb back through the window, that now that Robin could see, led through to a bedroom.

He smiled up at her. He got up and was just about to leave when she spoke up again.

"See you later?" it was more of a question than the usual goodbye.

"Yeah, see you later," he confirmed as he did a flip off the fire escape shot a grappling hook just in time.

She watched him go before climbing back into her room and shutting the window with a smile.

* * *

 **This is my first _ever_ story. I once tried a different one but it was bad. _Really_ bad. **

**This is set before YJ has started by a few years and I will get to the YJ bit but I just need time to "set up" the friendship. Sorry if Robins not perfect. I'm not sure what a ten-year-old Robin would really be like. I just assumed energetic and fun.**

 **So anyway...**

 **T** **hanks for reading!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	2. Chapter 2

**So these chapters are quite short but they will definitely get longer as the story progresses.**

 **Shout out to Lizzy! The first to favorite and follow!**

 **Also, they are _not_ going to date.**

* * *

Robin was doing more flips than necessary over the grim city below him. He couldn't help it though. When he got back last night, he had the usual " _don't go alone when I don't know_ ," " _don't turn off your communicator_ ," " _don't disable your trackers,_ " lectures as well as the most important "don't misbehave because I'm _Batman_ ," lecture from batman but in the end he was surprised that Batman was okay with him going somewhere to be alone if it was what he needed and wanted.

So now here he was after a boring day of school and homework, doing flips over the city as the Boy Wonder as he made his way around his patrol route. It was a quiet night concerning Gotham and he only stopped about three crimes and that was how he found himself subconsciously making his way towards the girl's apartment.

He paused on the roof across the same alleyway that her fire escape was in and he hesitated. Would she want to see him as much as he wanted to see her? He really didn't know. There was only one way to find out.

He grappled onto the fire escape one level above hers and looked down to see it empty. He slowly went down and looked at the window. Through a gap in the curtains, he could see the lit up room. She was there wearing black and red leggings, top and trainers looking ready to do some form of sport. Her hair was in a plait down her neck and he watched her pick up a bag and sling it over her shoulder as she left after switching off the light.

Guess she was busy tonight. But busy doing what?

He could follow her. It wasn't stalking, it was making sure she got where ever it was she was going at… eight o'clock, safely.

He waited and was glad when her and who he presumed to be her mom walked out the apartment building and started down the street. Looks like they weren't taking a car so it would be a piece of cake to follow and watch… err ensure safety off.

She only took a few turns before stopping in front of a sports complex and waved goodbye to her mom. He decided that it was not weird if he wanted to know what it was she was going to do and if he just followed her through the air ducts. Air ducts were so useful.

She entered a sports hall (who would have guessed?) and dumped her bag at the edge. The room was full of gymnastic equipment and there was a man talking to a group of girls and boys a few years older than her.

She walked over and joined them, the older kids obviously not liking her presence, as the teacher obviously gave them their routine for the night. They went off and started going through the equipment with different moves, most staying on the floor doing flips, bends and such. The teacher went around occasionally correcting them.

Robin watched the girl and couldn't help but stare. Despite her being eleven she was amazing. Not as good as Robin but still pretty amazing especially compared to her age and the people around her. She didn't need correcting a single time and earned glares from the others. Robin couldn't help but stare and he was shocked when an hour had passed.

He crawled his way back and found himself waiting on a roof across the road. This still wasn't stalking, he was just worried about the safety of his new friend. Despite the fact that she was currently walking the small distance back to her apartment and disappearing inside.

He was going to see if she was at the fire escape when his radio went off and Batman called him away.

Looking back once, he flipped away and made his way downtown.

oOo

Dick was bored. Alfred had taken him shopping and it was boring when he had to be careful with any pranks he wanted to pull after the latest. It had involved jam and explosions. A smile spread across his face at the memory.

Wandering through random isles, Dick saw the girl pushing a trolley. She pushed off with her feet and stood on the bottom bar, stopping every now and then to grab something.

He wanted to go say hi but she wouldn't know him. He wanted to talk to her but he was a stranger to her. She was also going to the next aisle.

He discreetly followed her around the next corner and as he looked a large group of boys came round the corner. They were making a racket and seemed like the stereotypical bullies.

As they came near to her, they seemed eager to pick on her but she just calmly carried on as they yelled names at her mocking her nationality. How could she be so calm? There was no reaction at all and this was the Boy Wonder. He was a master at reading peoples reaction, even the minute ones and he saw not a single reaction whatsoever.

They passed by and she just continued shopping.

It was like she never even heard them.

It was like she was used to it.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Ps. I know _nothing_ about gymnastics. Nothing at all.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So this is a longer chapter but as the story progresses, the chapters will grow longer.**

 **Lizzie is the best and has really helped with this story.**

 **Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

So it had been two nights since he had seen the ' _shopping_ _market_ _incident_ ' and now here Robin was doing another patrol. For the past two nights he and Batman had been following a gun shipment but now that it was sorted, he was back to his usual patrol.

He was coming to the end of another patrol at… ten. That was early for Gotham. It was Friday so he wasn't needed back until one at the very latest. Twelve was the usual curfew on Fridays and Saturdays.

Stopping at a certain apartment block, he silently climbed down the levels until he found hers and was happy when he saw her sat there with a sketchbook and pencils in her hand. Another of her 'hobbies,' he'd found two so far.

Robin used the handrails on the level above to swing down and hang upside down in front of her grinning.

"Hi!" he greeted cheerfully as she looked up and smiled at him. He swung down and landed next to her sitting cross-legged.

"So the famous Boy Wonder returns," she replied with a grin, casually hiding her drawing from him. The action not unnoticed by Robin.

"Why wouldn't I come back?"

"It's only me. Don't you have crimes to stop or whatever it is you do in your spare time?"

"Been there, done that. Never sat down to talk to someone my age though." He replied with a cheesy grin towards her. She just smiled back at him.

"Can I see the drawing?" he motioned towards the sketchpad in her lap.

"Well… I guess you can." She hesitantly turned her drawing towards him.

It was amazing if half drawn. The drawing was of a horse grazing on a hill with the sun just behind the horse. Even half-finished it looked realistic.

This was becoming a pattern, he found out one of her hobbies, she was amazing at the said hobby.

"Wow," was all he could think to say.

She looked down and blushed.

"My dad and I would go to art classes whenever he wasn't on a business trip." Her voice was silent and slightly sad, "we were the best in the class and the teacher would joke that we should be the ones teaching the class."

"My dad taught me acrobatics." Robin was also silent, "it was a whole family thing, everyone in my family could do acrobatics and more."

For a while, they sat there, until Robin broke the silence.

"What else did you do?"

"Well, I did a lot back in England. I still do a lot but there are a few hobbies that I stopped." she looked towards him smiling before looking towards the brick wall across the alleyway. "Everything I did, my dad did. Everything that is but acrobatics, he couldn't do a forward role for the life of him." she was smiling in memory now. "On Monday nights, we went swimming, it was the best, sometimes serious laps and lengths but sometimes we would just mess around. It's a hobby I still do, on a Wednesday night but… it's not the same.

"On Tuesday night, we had this martial arts thing. This was really fun and he liked me taking this class as it meant I could defend myself, we would do one form of fighting for a few weeks and then another for a few weeks and in between them all, we would learn to incorporate each technique into one another. I'm quite good at fighting and I go to a different fighting class that's a bit similar but we never found one that was the same." she looked happy as she recounted her past life in England.

"On a Wednesday, my mum and dad would have a _date night,_ it was just an excuse to get rid of me, whilst I went to acrobatics and then either slept at friends or my aunt's house. I loved sleeping at my aunt's place, I kept some clothes there since I was there pretty much once a week. Me and my cousins were complete horrors. My aunt also taught me to cook and even clean some nights when she'd had a long week. I enjoyed it even if I was working. We would put music on and dance around whilst doing the chores," she blushed at her confession and ran a hand through her hair looking at Robin. He smiled encouragingly for her to continue.

"I'm just telling you my life here," she laughed but went on."Thursday nights were art classes, where I learnt how to do this," she commented whilst showing him the drawing again. "We loved that one second to best."

"What was the best then?" he asked curiously.

"Shush, I'm getting to that." she scolded him. "Fridays were our ' _nights off'_ as my dad would say. We would have a pizza, takeaway or just some sort of junk food and ice cream. Friday nights were filled with junk food, snacks, and movies. Of all days, I miss Friday nights the most. My mums too busy for movies and she can never sit still long enough anyway. It isn't the same alone."

Seeing how sad she looked with the last part, Robin spoke up. "I'll have movie nights with you. Every Friday and I will put it before everything." he looked her in the eye and saw how hopeful she looked. This may have been a rushed decision but he _wasn't_ backing out. Besides, junk food, that's something he _never_ got at the mansion. "I _'ll_ convince Batman and he _can't_ say no if I use my puppy eyes. Every Friday we'll have a movie night. I _promise_."

She looked so happy with that and before Robin knew it, he was in the middle of a massive hug. Hugging back, he smiled into her shoulder. A new friend, _definitely_.

They moved until they were still huddling together but not quite hugging.

"You were on Friday," he told her, enjoying listening to her English accent.

She laughed slightly before continuing. "Friday was the best _night_ but not a hobby so you still don't have _that_ answer yet." Robin sighed dramatically in response. "Saturdays, we went for a run in the countryside. Sometimes the fields, sometimes the woods, sometimes the beach, sometimes even the indoor track if it was raining or snowing. We would talk and laugh the whole time. When we got back it was showers and then we would spend the afternoon and evening fiddling with either his inventions or mine. We were quite techy people and we made our own computers and phones. I still do that and chemistry stuff in my spare time. I'm quite clever. My mum would say I'm three years ahead of my time and that my dads three years behind." she laughed at that joke.

"I have an area for my experiments and inventions. It's a massive and fancy apartment. Takes up two whole floors. My rooms on the top level. If only the view was nicer," she joked looking out at the brick wall. "I told you before, my dad bought this amazing home then left."

He rested his head on her shoulder as silent support.

"Back to my life story I guess, Sunday was the best hobby _ever_. Though it's one of the ones I had to stop. Sundays were horse riding. Me, my mum and my dad. All three of us went on this _one_ hobby. It was a family thing. We each had our own horse, mine was an appaloosa. Completely white with black spots everywhere. I knew her since a foal. Grew up with her in fact. Of course, young me called her, Dotty. In the end, it was a perfect name since she turned out slightly dotty.  
"We visited the horses every day to feed and exercise them on the way back from school but we dedicated the whole of Sunday to the horses. We went over in the early mornings, gave the horses a complete pamper with every horse related luxury and then they were tacked up and we went for a two-hour ride to the local pub where they had stables and everything. We had lunch and then the whole day was spent trekking. We went on different routes and when we got back, we pampered the horses again before going home, eating and playing games. Sundays were the best and my dad always refused to miss it. No business trip could keep him away. I loved Sundays."

By the end of her little speech, she was lost in memory, smiling silently despite the tears that slowly escaped her eyes. Robin used his cape to put around their shoulders and they sat there, huddled lost in memories.

As always, Robin broke the silence.

"So what hobbies do you still do then?" he asked not moving an inch.

She moved slightly to look down at him before responding.

"Well we tried running on Monday nights but I just didn't like it, stopped it after the first few weeks. The people there were just too… too _something_." she shuddered slightly with the memory. Robin could only sympathize knowing Gotham all too well.

"On a Tuesday, I go to acrobatics, just down the road," Robin looked away slightly, he may have already known that for unspecified reasons. "I'm not allowed in a class any higher than the one I'm in despite the fact that I'm tons better than the others there. The teacher loves me since I usually help put it all away and everything. He specifies some lessons for me. It's the best hobby I still do.  
"Like I said, Wednesdays are swimming. It really isn't like how it was in England but I still enjoy it. Thursdays are free. On a Friday, I have a fighting thing about an hour after my tutor leaves so I am free for the movie nights that are starting next week. You can't get out of it now." she looked at him grinning. "You've already promised." they laughed quietly.

"Then the only other one is art class on a Saturday after lunch. The art classes are really great because I get the freedom to paint what I want in them. So there you go. My life."

"Well, my life is school and then crime fighting." Robins life sounded dull compared to hers.

They sat there for a few hours until Robin looked at the time. He had three minutes to get back to the Batcave. He could do this.

"I got to go," he said jumping up.

The girl stood up with him and grabbed his wrist before he could leap away.

"I never said." he looked slightly confused. "My names Grace. Grace O'Hanlon." she smiled at him before letting go of his wrist.

"See you later Grace."

"See you later Robin."

With that, he was away into the shadows. Never noticing the drawing of a small robin that had somehow been slipped into his belt.

Well, not noticing until he got to the Batcave.

Dick hung that drawing on his bedroom wall.

* * *

 **So, I like where this story is going and you will just have to wait and see.**

 **Thanks for reading this far!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	4. Chapter 4

**So here it is!**

 **I personally love this chapter so I do hope you like it!**

* * *

This is how the week went from thereon for him…

oOo

 **Saturday**

"Please Bruce…" Dick was begging with the biggest and most pathetic puppy eyes that he had ever used.

"No." was the emotionless reply.

"But Bruuuccce," he was resorting to whining.

"No." Bruce wasn't looking at him. If he looked, they both knew the answer would change.

"Please." Dick moved to Bruce's line of sight not letting him get away.

Bruce sighed looking at the pathetic puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine."

Dick wouldn't admit it but he let out a squeal of joy.

o

Patrol was busy. Why did all the criminals come out on a Saturday night? Robin didn't get a chance to visit Grace.

oOo

 **Sunday**

Dick decided that Wayne Enterprises was _boring_. After using wheelie chairs to go down the corridors as fast as possible, he was left with nothing to do.

That is until he saw the people waiting to be interviewed. One of them looked strangely _familiar_. He looked at the woman on the end for a bit. She had light brown hair and greeny-blue eyes, she was wearing a nice formal outfit that wasn't quite a suit. Dick looked at her for a bit longer trying to figure out who she was when she turned to him and noticed him staring.

"Are you looking at me for a reason?" she asked him. English accent. No. it couldn't be. Grace _had_ said that her mum was going for an interview. But of _all_ places.

"I just think you'll fit right in," he replied giving his best _10-year-old innocent Dick Grayson_ smile.

"How can I fit in when I haven't got the job?" she asked slightly amused.

"Easily," he replied suppressing a laugh. "By the way, I'm Dick Grayson. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," she replied not at all shocked, most people were when meeting him for the first time. "I'm Louise O'Hanlon."

"Cool. So when's your interview?" he asked all too innocently.

"In ten minutes," she replied getting curious. "Why are you asking?"

"I just want to know who'll be working here." he gave her one of his nicest grins.

"I haven't got the job."

"Yet," he replied. "You haven't gotten the job _yet_ ," he called over his shoulder laughing.

Time for phase two of the plan that formed in his head just as he was walking away.

Taking the elevator up to Bruce's office, he waited for the person inside to come out. When they did, Dick walked in.

"Is something wrong Dick?" Bruce asked looking up from the papers he had on his desk.

"Nothing's _wrong_ at all," Dick replied grinning.

"Then what do you want?" Bruce asked getting slightly annoyed. "I have work to do and a _company_ to run."

"Well… since you _asked_." Bruce frowned assuming the worst. "There's a bunch of people downstairs about to be interviewed and I just think that one of them deserves the job more than the others."

"Since when did _you_ care about who works at the company?"

"Since I met this _amazing_ woman who deserves the job." Dick was prepared to do the puppy dog eyes.

"Who is it then?" Bruce sighed.

"Louise O'Hanlon." Dick was slightly surprised that Bruce gave in so easily.

"If she is suitable for the job then she will have a good ch…" he was interrupted by the puppy eyes. Dick should have known it would come to this.

"But she _needs_ this job." Dick was enjoying watching Bruce squirm under the puppy dog eyes. Not even t _he Batman_ could say no.

"You're determined, aren't you?" Bruce said, sighing as Dick nodded his head fervently. "I _suppose_ I can talk to the people doing the interviews and _possibly_ sway their choices." They both knew the 'possibly' was a lie.

"Thanks Bruce!" Dick exclaimed cheerily all but somersaulting out the office.

Bruce sighed one more time as he watched Dick leave.

o

Later that night when Robin saw Grace after his patrol, she happily told him all about how her mum had got the job and how bizarre it was that a company that big replied the same day. Robin just grinned and laughed knowing just how mysterious Wayne Enterprises could be.

Leaving, Robin was glad that he had made his new friend so happy.

oOo

 **Monday**

Ugh, school. Even Babs couldn't make it fun. Being homeschooled in a traveling circus was so much more fun than _this_. _Ugh_! _Three_ more _hours_!

o

 _Gotham at night was like one massive jungle gym,_ was the thought that went through Robin's head as he flipped and laughed and ignored Batman's instructions to slow down and come back. He was dancing and _flying!_ He was _never_ stopping! This was just too much _fun_! He would live in the skies like a _real_ Robin!

As he flew and danced through the skies, a tiny, tiny, _tiny_ part of his mind that was deep, deep, _deep_ down in his head in the darkest, farthest and most _unnoticed_ parts of all his thoughts, commented that every time he did a flip, Batman thought of another way to kill him. The rest of his brain ignored that _tiny_ little voice as he leapt off the building yelling on the way down.

"WOOOHOOOO!

Batman growled as he chased after his partner. He was never letting that kid near sugar for the rest of his life.

oOo

 **Tuesday**

Dick had such a bad sugar crash. His head _hurt_ and the stupid sun was in his eyes. He couldn't remember much from last night except some sweets that he had been given by some store owner as a thanks for stopping the burglar.

Dick went to roll over in bed when he realised that A: he wasn't in his bed and B: he was tied to the floor with rope and tape. He was in his room, sure but not actually in his bed. Why was he tied down? He would have to ask Bruce when he got the chance.

o

School was still stupid.

o

Robin was finishing his patrol when he visited Grace.

"Nah I don't like most American candies," she explained to him passing him the half-empty candy box. It used to be full of different types of candies but half of them were gone.

"Are you sure I can have them?" he asked her unsure.

"Yeah, I don't like them. It was nice of my neighbour but I like the English candy." she tilted her head to the side grinning. "You know, _proper_ candy."

She laughed as she disappeared into her bedroom.

Robin looked at the candy box in his hands and picked one up, opening the wrapper.

 _10 minutes later._

Batman was once again chasing his partner across Gotham.

oOo

 **Wednesday**

Dick had _such_ the headache! What happened last night. He remembered patrol, Grace, candy and then nothing. _Huh_ , he thought, _strange_.

At least he was tied to the bed this time rather than the floor. Small mercies. He never did ask Bruce what happened to him the night before.

o

Power cut! No school! This was the best day of his _life_!

o

Why wasn't he allowed out on patrol? What had he done to deserve this?

oOo

 **Thursday**

Alfred made pancakes! This was going to be a great day for Dick!

o

 _Worst_ day _ever_! They had _two_ exams! School was so _useless_. He already knew _all_ of this why did he need to be here! _Three_ _hours left!_

o

He was allowed back on patrol again! This day was great! He stopped six crimes and still had time to visit Grace.

"See you tomorrow for the movie night."

"Yeah, the window will be open so just come straight in and leave your shoes by the window. There'll be a mat."

At Robins confused expression she replied.

"I'm not having you traipse mud around my room. Now shoo! I got a bed to be in."

With that, they parted ways.

oOo

 **Friday**

Dick woke up early which just made Bruce suspicious. First, he asks for _every_ Friday night off and _then_ he wakes up _early_. Something was happening.

After a _look_ from Alfred, Bruce decided _not_ to look into it since it was making Dick so happy.

o

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ school! _Just_ because Dick was a mathlete doesn't mean that he _liked_ school. He was just good at maths.

He had already been told off _three_ times for being distracted and he was only in his _second_ lesson.

o

Where _was_ he going? Bruce gave him Friday nights off and he thought Dick was going to friends or something similar. But where was there to go as Robin _every_ Friday that made him so excited?

After another _look_ from Alfred, Bruce didn't persevere with finding out.

Dick was ecstatic. He was running across the rooftops as fast as possible to get to Grace's apartment. She had never said a time so he was just going to arrive at seven and hope for the best.

He swung down the fire escape until he got to her level. Pausing to take a breath, he knocked on the window and went in.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **The story gets really exciting soon. I promise!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Havent got time for a proper Authers Note!**

 **I've gotta go sleep.**

 **Enjoy the story!**

* * *

As Robin went in, he immediately noticed the absence of his friend. He looked around him.

The room was massive with a colour theme of white and light blue making it seem bigger than it actually was.

On either side of the window, there were light blue, blackout curtains. About a meter away from the window in both corners of the room, there were two bookcases that fit into the corner going around.

On the wall left to the window, there was the bookcase, then a door, a dressing table, and another door.

There was at least two meters between the drawers and second door. This room was _roomy_.

On the wall opposite the window was a white sofa with blue cushions and a lamp next to it. Then there was a door and in the corner was a large corner desk that had a _three_ -screened computer and lots of bits and pieces that would usually be found on a desk.

The wall to the right of the window had the bookcase in one corner, the desk in the other and in the middle had a California king sized bed, it was _massive_. A little chest at the end of it and two bedside tables completed the layout.

There was one last door that stood in between the bed and bookcase. Everything in the room fitted the colour scheme and looked like it was designed by a very expensive designer.

The only thing that didn't fit the pattern was the wooden chest that had very faded white paint on it with gold around the sides; it looked quite old. It must have been something they bought over from England with them.

The floor had two large rugs on top of the carpet. All in all, it was almost nicer than his room back at the mansion. It definitely felt cosier despite the size and colour scheme. He needed to chat with Bruce about redecorating.

He guessed the door across from him led into the hall. Another door probably led through to a bathroom and another to a walk in wardrobe, he guessed due to the lack of wardrobe. The fourth door was a mystery though. What else was there for it to lead through to.

As he finished looking around, the door across from him opened and Grace came through wearing Green Lantern pajamas. What was it with her and these pajamas?

She didn't seem fazed at all to see him stood there. Balanced on her left arm was a tray with two bowls of popcorn. Her right arm balanced a tray full of random snacks and junk food. She was holding a tray of drinks on her right hand and two DVDs in her left hand. She looked like a true waitress.

She placed all the things down on the dressing table except for the DVDs.

"Well come in. Don't just stand there," she replied grinning to him picking up a tv remote. It was then that Robin noticed something. She had a mirror and some photos on her wall but no tv, how were they going to watch movies without a screen?

"So what we watching?" he asked her. As he went to take a step, she looked down at his feet and then back up to him raising an eyebrow.

Looking down he noticed the doormat that had been placed under the window. He took off his boots and neatly left them by the window.

Walking over to Grace he smiled and before she knew it, he had the DVDs in his hands.

In one hand was Disney, Pocahontas and in the other hand was Shrek.

"So are these the choices?" he asked looking up at her smirking face. What did she have to smirk about?

"Two of the choices yeah." she didn't move at all.

"So where's the tv or what else are we watching them on?" her grin seemed to grow at his question and he just narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"You'll see." was her cryptic reply. "Grab a tray and follow me." she then proceeded to lift up two of the trays and Robin picked up the one left following her to the bed.

He helped her arrange the food and drinks neatly on the bedside tables (it stayed neat for the first ten minutes) and he then watched on confused as she settled onto the bed. There was no screen anywhere. Not even a laptop.

"Make yourself comfortable," she said as she fiddled with a drink opening it.

Robin got onto the massive bed and got comfortable looking towards the dressing table.

He then stared with amazement as Grace pressed the 'on' button on the remote and two metal rods rose from either side of the bed. They were level with Robins knees. From these two metal rods, lights shone from a tiny slit on the inside of them and before he knew it, a _3D_ screen appeared in front of him. He stared at it amazed. Not even _Batman_ had this technology.

Grace turned and put one of the disks into a disk tray behind her that hadn't been there before.

There were then speakers that hadn't been there before. When Grace pressed another button, the screen seemed to be at the perfect angle as the starting screen of Shrek came up in _3D_.

Grace laughed at Robins shocked expression. He was awestruck by something that she thought of as fairly simple.

"But… ju… you… it… 3D… How?" Robin could barely say that.

"It's simple to me but well… let's just say, I have understood holograms since I was _tiny_ and this was the first thing I ever really invented _myself_ ," she said it so casually.

"Why don't you sell this stuff? You could make _so_ much money," he said waving his hand through the hologram of Shrek's face.

"It's _my_ invention and well… my family is _very_ possessive and we _don't_ like sharing" she replied with a huff but they both laughed a few seconds later.

"How did you get Batman to say yes?" she asked him once they had stopped laughing.

"Puppy eyes as well as the fact that not long ago was the first anniversary of something really bad that happened before he took me in," Robin replied looking away slightly. "He's scared that if he says the wrong thing then he'll upset me."

Grace smiled at him and gave him a hug. He took it as an opportunity to steal a sip of her drink. She gasped and shoved him away in mock offence but they were both laughing.

They settled down and watched Shrek together. When Shrek ended they were both in the middle of the bed with food surrounding them and Robin's cape had disappeared down the side of the bed after a _fight_ over who got the last packet of nerds. They shared it in the end.

They put in Pocahontas and watched the movie with Robin using Graces shoulder as a cushion. Grace put her arm around him and he cuddled into her side. She was the perfect human cushion.

Halfway through the movie, all the food was gone and they were both sound asleep.

When Grace's mum came in three quarters through the movie, she decided that she had seen stranger than her daughter cuddling with the famous Boy Wonder, and proceeded to clear away the remnants of food. Before she left, she switched off the tv and put a blanket over the two. Neither of them woke up.

oOo

When Robin woke up the next morning and it was light, he immediately panicked. Batman was going to kill him.

Wait, no he wasn't, last night was _his_ night off. If Robin wanted a spontaneous sleepover, he was going to _have_ a spontaneous sleepover. Whether he did mean for it or not.

As he rolled onto his back, he noticed the lack of Grace. She had managed to get up without waking him? _And_ put a blanket on him? He was _really_ losing his touch.

He sat up and looked around. All evidence of food was gone and the door to his right was open showing a hallway.

Yawning, he got up and stretched. He surprisingly didn't have any aches.

As he looked around, Grace put her head around the door and smiled seeing him awake.

"Morning," he said brightly to her.

"Evening," she replied. "So you coming to breakfast or what, sleepy?" at the question, he blushed realizing that she would have seen him asleep. Wait… _evening_?

Robin's head whipped to the clock but it told him it was eight in the morning. He looked to Grace suspiciously but she looked completely innocent.

Following her out the room, he noticed the expensive apartment and it was _massive_. Her dad had gone full out when buying a house. He went down a staircase and it led to a beautiful kitchen that was white, black and silver with wooden features. it looked modern and classic at the same time.

He sat at the breakfast bar with her and looked around. There were three photos. Two of her and her mum and one of a baby. It wasn't her as the baby had brown eyes.

"Watch this," Grace said grinning.

She pressed her finger down onto the counter for a few seconds and Robin heard a beep. She then dragged her finger over the wood in a few quick movements and as she stopped, a screen appeared… Robin couldn't tell if the screen was _in_ or _on_ the wood. It was flat with the counter but there was no sign of it being there before and he could see the wood through it. It… it… he was _amazed_.

Grace obviously wasn't finished with destroying his mind as she set her hand down flat on the screen and brought it up, the screen came up with her hand and it was now a vertical _3D_ screen in front of them both showing the news.

At his shocked expression, she just patted his shoulder nodding.

"Don't worry. One day you will understand that I have more and better tech than you."

"But _how_?" he asked amazed. "Was this some of the stuff your dad invented?"

"No.," she said smirking. "He was more robots and that stuff. Things like holograms and all that, all of it was me."

"How do you know this?"

"Well… it's a long story," she said looking away.

"Maybe another day."

"Another day," she said smiling.

Her mum then walked in and seemed unfazed by him sat at the breakfast table. This family did _not_ get fazed by anything. Robin decided he like the word 'fazed'. _Fazed._

Her mum smiled and served breakfast straight from the oven.

"A full English for our American guest." Grace laughed.

"If you don't like anything don't eat it." her mum told him with a warm smile whilst waving a spatula around. "Oh, and call me Louise."

"Thanks!" he replied with a bright smile. He didn't think he'd had a full English since traveling with the circus. That was over a year ago now.

After eating, he gave his farewells and both he and Grace knew that he was coming back that night most likely. He walked back through her bedroom, putting on his cape and shoes.

He looked around her room again and thought what could have been through the other door.

Saying bye to Grace, he left through her window and made his way back to the Batcave.

o

When he arrived at the Batcave, Bruce was pacing and obviously debating whether or not to don the Batsuit in daylight whilst Alfred was watching Robin watch Bruce.

Robin smiled at Alfred and that was all the man needed to return upstairs to his butler duties.

Bruce must have been extremely distracted to not notice Robin come in and get changed into his normal clothes.

Dick sat curled up in the Batchair and carried on watching Bruce pace wondering how long it would take him to notice.

Ten minutes later, Bruce broke his pacing to head towards the Batcomputer and jumped when he saw Dick. Well… the 'jump' was only noticeable to Dick who knew the man.

"How long have you been here?" Bruce had been panicking about _him_. How _sweet_.

"Well good morning to you _too_ ," Dick replied with a sip of the hot chocolate Alfred had brought down to him a few minutes ago. "I was just sitting here watching you pace for about ten minutes and before that, I came in and got changed."

Bruce was obviously annoyed. Dick was having too much fun with this.

"Where _were_ you?" he asked only moment away from seething.

"Same place I'm going to be next Friday, and the Friday after that, and the Friday after that, and the fri…" he was cut off by Bruce.

" _Where_ were you and _what_ were you doing?" he growled.

"My Friday night hobby," Dick said with an innocent smile.

"What is this hobby?" Bruce was getting so mad now

"Nothing much." Dick was seconds away from laughing.

"Will it take this long every week?" Bruce was only _slightly_ calmer.

"Unless you need me earlier, then yes. Yes, it will." Dick said as he spun around in the Batchair. Bruce frowned even _more_ at this response. If that was even possible.

"I am going to do this every Friday night and I don't care what you say," Dick replied being momentarily serious. "Besides, it's annoying you so I want to do it even _more_."

"Okay, you can do whatever it is but only if you tell me _what is it?_ " Bruce glared at the unfazed Dick.

"I _will_ tell Alfred that you're stopping me from doing something that makes me _happy_ if you don't let me continue without telling you." Dick knew he had him with that. "This is something that is going to stay as _my_ thing and I want to keep it like that."

Dick knew that Bruce wanted to say that Alfred wasn't in charge but that would just be an unabashed lie.

Grumbling, Bruce spun on his heels and left the Batcave muttering about children and secrets. Dick swore he heard the word impractical in there. What was impractical about _him_?

Finishing his hot chocolate, he made his way upstairs and decided today was a good day to hit the town.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	6. Chapter 6

**So I am way too tired for this and the only reason it's going up is for Lizzy.**

 **Shout out to Lizzy! I bet she won't even notice!**

 **So this chapter is kinda late and thats cause I have a life.**

 **So Enjoy!**

* * *

Grace and Robin had been friends for about a month. They'd had three movie nights and Robin visited whenever he could, he had even visited during the day.

Currently, Robin had made a quick visit to say hi but had left due to a call about some animal mad scientist. Grace had said bye and proceeded to get into bed in her new wonder woman pajamas.

She was currently sleeping and dreaming of horses. It was a nice dream that was interrupted by something sharp jabbing at her face. No, a better word was pecking at her face.

She cautiously opened an eye. The pecking stopped and she was greeted by a robin. The robin looked like a normal robin if it weren't for the black mask like shape around its bright blue eyes.

Grace and the robin stared at each other.

"You are such a cute little birdie, aren't you?" she said to the tiny bird. The bird responded with an angry chirp that nearly made her laugh and it puffed up its feathers trying to look tough and annoyed. That made her laugh.

"What do you want birdie?" so she was talking to a bird at the moment but then she had experienced stranger.

The bird bounced up and down, obviously wanting her to get out of her nice warm, comfy, perfect, cosy bed to do whatever the bird wanted with her.

"Not now." she sighed and rolled onto her other side hoping that the bird would either go to sleep, disappear or turn into a still and silent bird.

Another chirp from the bird and she sighed and rolled onto her back. The bird proceeded to climb onto her chest. She then noticed something. Where the bird had been stood, there was red. She looked at the bird. The bird looked at her. Its wing was bleeding. Not badly but it looked painful. She assumed he couldn't fly so it must have been stupidly hard to get here. But why _her_. Why not _Batman_.

"Why me?" she decided to ask. Of course, the bird couldn't answer so she reached over and picked up the laptop that had conveniently been on her bedside table. Yes, she did have tech that wasn't modern and designed by her. It was easier to get the software on it. The bird had settled himself on her chest. She could feel the blood staining her pajamas.

"These were clean, _new_ pajamas." she got the reply of the little birdie snuggling its tiny head into her neck. She laughed gently and stroked the birdies feathers, coming back with a bloody hand.

She _really_ needed to sort that out.

She opened the laptop onto an empty word document and settled it next to her. She picked up the birdie in one hand and used the other to rearrange the pillows so she could sit up some more comfortably.

The laptop went on her lap and the birdie went on her belly.

"Type what you want to say," she said to him. She watched the birdie stare at the keyboard before raising a tiny little claw and jabbing at one of the keys. Grace started recording this on her phone and enjoying every minute of it.

She waited patiently as the birdie got more confidence in this and was soon spinning around the keyboard tapping at the keys he wanted. He looked like he was dancing. He then stopped and wobbled slightly onto her belly where he proceeded to lay down and look up at her.

Looking down at the little message, Grace read it.

" _fighting that stupid criminal he zapped me with a thingy. Too shocked. Got thrown against a wall. Really hurt my 'wing' but fine otherwise. Criminal got away. You were easier to get to than my uniform. Cant radio batman. Need help. And food. And sleep. And medical attention. And a hug?"_

Looking down at the birdie, Grace sighed. She closed her laptop and climbed out of her nice warm comfy bed. Once she was standing, she sighed. Again. She had been so comfy. And not bloodstained.

Putting the birdie on her shoulder, she set off trying to ignore the ' _singing_ ' coming from the happy little ball of fluff and feathers on her shoulder.

Since her apartment was so big, they had one of the bathrooms turned into a little medical room. Arriving at the room, she got up one the holo-screens and typed in a few things.

A few seconds later, the items she had typed in had appeared on a shelf that was in front of some sort of dispenser thing.

"Medical vending machine," was the explanation she gave to the confused looking birdie.

Picking up the small towel, she made a little nest on the bed and settled the birdie into it.

She wouldn't say it, because she valued her life, but he looked absolutely adorable in the little nest.

She looked at he painkillers and back to the tiny bird. Let's not risk it.

Okay so clean the wound. She grabbed a chair and sat in front of him to be at a better level. She gently lifted his wing with one hand whilst gently stroking him with the other. When the wing was straightened out, the birdie gave off a chirp of pain making her wince.

Cleaning the wound, she saw that it wasn't as bad as she thought. The wing wasn't broken and the cut was fixed right up and stopped bleeding. Well, that was easy.

She looked at the birdie again. He looked fine otherwise. Lifting him up in his little nest, she took him back to her room and placed him down on the bed.  
"Okay birdie. I'm going to get changed so you just wait there." she smiled at the chirping birdie. What was it with him and singing?

Disappearing into the door to the left of the window, she entered her walk-in wardrobe and changed into some clean, non-bloodstained clothes.

Meanwhile, Robin completely ignored her.

He liked the sound of his chirp. He sounded _great_ when he sang.

He stood up and wobbled over to the laptop. After a lot of effort, he opened the laptop and opened google. Putting on the background music to "waiting for love," by Avicii, he started chirping along. He was having the time of his life when Grace came out.

Robin didn't notice her, being busy singing, so Grace snuck around to the sofa. She silently picked up her smallest cushion and she threw it.

The cushion came out of nowhere and Robin chirped loudly in shock as he leaped away from the offending cushion and death stared Grace who was innocently trying to hide her laugh at the utterly adorable birdie death stare.

She picked him up and closed the laptop all whilst badly concealing her laugh. Carrying him through the apartment, she got to the kitchen before he started chirping again. She didn't know what he was singing but he sounded somewhat nice.

Placing him on the counter, she looked in the fridge and cupboards. She had no idea what was safe to feed birds. In the end, she settled with some fruit.

Cutting up the apple, she thought about her life. Best mates with the famous Boy Wonder. The Boy Wonder. She looked over and smiled at the 'singing' bird. Her best friend. Her birdie.

Singing, Robin thought about stuff. He had a friend. A friend. A friend who wasn't his friend for money or popularity. She liked him for him. He had a best friend. He looked over at her as she cut up food for him. She was his best friend. His only _real_ friend.

Grace finished cutting the apple and put it in front of the birdie smiling as he started pecking at it. She took more photos and a short video. Grace was never getting rid of them.

Finishing, the birdie looked up at her and started 'singing' again. Would he ever shut up?

She picked him up and put him back on her shoulder where he snuggled into her neck.

In her bedroom, she opened up her laptop and put it back onto the word document, placing it onto her lap and birdie on top.

"So what now?" she asked birdie.

Away he went with another typing dance.

" _Need to radio bats. Take me to_ uniform _. Few blocks away on a roof. I'll show you."_

When Grace was silent for a minute, the birdie added to his message.

" _please?"_

She smiled and reread it.

Reading through, Grace was struck with a thought.

"How exactly did you get up to my window?" she asked him.

 _"Great difficulty."_

That seemed to be the whole answer.

"Okay let's go."

With that, she picked him up and placed him on her shoulder.

Away they went. They left through the front door. Walking down the street, the birdie would tap her neck or shoulder if he wanted her to turn. It took longer than expected but eventually, she came to an alley and birdie motioned for her to go up the fire escape. Sighing, she complied. She could be _asleep_ right now.

When they got to the top, she climbed up onto the roof and there, in the middle, was a discarded Robin costume. She walked over to it and picked up the scaly green pants.

"You need a costume change." She said looking at the birdie. If he didn't have feathers, she knew he would be blushing.

She rummaged through it until she found the little white thing that she assumed to be the communicator.

She looked from the communicator to birdie and back again until birdie chirped at her.

She knelt down and placed birdie down and put the communicator next to him. He put one claw on it and pressed down. He then proceeded to chirp. It wasn't morse code. In fact, it faintly sounded like the song he had been singing earlier.

He kept going until an annoyed Batman responded.

"Why can I hear a chirping bird?"

Birdie responded with more chirping and Grace started to pick up his outfit.

"Robin, come in." Batman sounded quite annoyed.

More chirping came as Grace neatly folded the clothes up and placed the belt and mask on top.

"I am coming to your location." Batman really sounded annoyed.

The chirping then stopped and birdie looked up at Grace. She put the communicator in the neat pile and looked at birdie. She then smirked with a brilliant idea.

"Wanna go hide and see how Batman reacts to finding this," she gestured to the clothes, "but finding no Robin?"

She laughed when he chirped excitedly and bounced up and down.

They hid between two air ducts. It was a bit tight but not that bad. They settled down and waited. Grace was sat cross-legged with birdie snuggled into her hands on her lap.

They waited for five minutes before a dark shadow appeared on the other side of the roof. Batman walked to the centre where the clothes were folded neatly.

As he looked around, Grace pulled a small meal disk from her pocket. She brought birdie up to her face so she could whisper quietly to answer his unasked question.

"Its something new I have been working on." she lifted the disk up so he could look at it. "I put it on me somewhere and activate it. It takes a few seconds to calibrate but basically, me and anything I'm touching or holding, is, in essence, invisible. It also mutes sound but that bit isn't too good. I am going to put you down and then once it's activated, I can safely watch or leave or whatever whilst you go say hi to Batman." through the whole explanation, she had been carefully watching Batman but she was certain he hadn't heard her.

She was only sure of that because the birdie had also been watching him and hadn't given any indication of trouble.

Grace placed the birdie down but he looked up at her sadly. He wanted a hug, didn't he? Why did he always want hugs? He was like an attention starved octopus.

She picked him up again and hugged him gently.

He bounced happily out of her hands leaving her to sort out her 'visibility disk.'

It was a few seconds before she was out of vision. The best way for Robin to describe it was that the invisibility flew over her like paint.

He looked back once more and was rewarded with an invisible hand gently stroking his back.

He hopped out from in between the air vents and started chirping happily.

Batman spun around and stared down at the strange little Robin.

He jumped onto the pile of clothes and chirped at Batman as he bounced up and down on his utility belt.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Grace was stood about two meters away watching and smiling at the birdie.

As Batman reluctantly picked up the birdie, Grace snapped a quick picture before leaving the duo to work their own problems.

She was two blocks away and she could still hear the stupid chirping. Did he ever stop singing?

o

The next night, when Robin visited, he wasn't wearing his scaly pants. In fact, the whole outfit had changed. He now wore green tights (he claimed they were not tights), the cape was still yellow on the inside but had black on the outside and his top was fitted differently with more black in it and it a bit fitted better.

He still had the elf shoes though.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **I am going to bed since its like twenty past eleven and I cant keep my eyes open.**

 **Goodnight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_

 _ **(going to bed)**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Just got back from a day out and decided to post!**

 **Sorry for the gap but I've had homework *dramatic sigh***

 **Hope people are reading and enjoying this!**

 ***Hehe, cliffhanger warning***

* * *

"GRACE! GRACE! GRACE!"

Grace woke up to her name being yelled and something was making her move around in bed.

Blearily opening an eye, she saw Robin in his full costumed glory bouncing up and down on her bed. She noted that he had at least remembered to take his shoes off.

"What?" she asked sounding really unamused.

He stood above her and showed her a fancy looking phone. Hers was better. She had made hers so of course it was better.

"Wow." The reply was unamused. She rolled over purposely tripping him over and he rolled over to her until he was lying in front of her.

Grace looked at the grinning Robin.

"Stupid birdie." She muttered, rolling over again turning her back to him.

"You know you love me really," he replied climbing under the sheets in front of her and cuddling up to her.

Sighing, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug and tried sleeping.

"Aren't you going to ask about the phone?" he asked her clearly not trying to sleep.

"It's a phone." she went to roll over _again_ but he wrapped himself around her to stop her. He clung to her shaking with excitement.

" _What's up with the phone?"_ she asked in a very clearly fake voice.

"Basically…" he started but she interrupted.

"Here comes the American teenage girl impression," she said as she rolled onto her back and made herself more comfortable. Robin followed suit and spent a few minutes making himself comfortable as he huffed about not being like a teenage girl.

He _eventually_ settled down, using Grace as a human-sized pillow. She obediently wrapped her arm around him and waited for the explanation.

"So the phone." He was grinning and shaking with excitement. "Batman gave it to me so that I could use it on covert ops and that means that I have a Robin Phone. I have his number, agent A's number, and the commissioners number."

Grace looked at the black mop of messy hair.

"So?" she just wanted to sleep.

"So… I can give you my number and we can text!" he was bouncing with excitement.

Grace was silent for a few minutes. She was contemplating whether to kill him now or let him suffer.

"You woke me up," as soon as she started speaking, Robin realized his mistake. "You woke me up from my happy, _peaceful_ slumber at two in the morning to tell me that you can _text_ me?"

Robin didn't move for a bit.

The air was tense.

It was so tense, you could cut it with a spoon. Maybe a fork. But not a knife.

"Okay." She turned and grabbed her phone, motioning for the dazed donut to read off his number to her.

He was reading the last number when he yawned. He _never_ yawned. He blushed at Graces stares.

"Sleep." Her tone was a no no-nonsense tone. He frowned at her but she remained unfazed and raised an eyebrow. He tried the bat glare but she just laughed remarking how he looked like an angry puppy.

After about ten minutes of grumbling, Robin snuggled down next to Grace and made himself comfortable again.

They lay there for donkey long until the silence was broken.

"Hey, birdie?" Grace whispered into the darkness. "You still awake?"

She felt a little nod against her and an affirmative noise.

"Are you actually tired or faking it?" she moved a bit, bringing his head level to hers. He opened his eyes and looked across at her.

"Faking it." He said grinning at her. "But I faked it _just_ for _you_." he sounded like he really did… not care.

They both laughed gently and then lay there in the silence looking at the darkness where they assumed the other was.

"Hey, Grace?" Robin sounded nervous. This was new. _Not_.

"Yeah, birdie?"

"Well… how do you know how to… how are you… why are you so clever and smart and you know how to make all that stuff and… just… how?" he was blabbing like he usually did.

The few moments that Grace was silent for felt like pure torture. He shifted nervously and Grace felt the quilt move against her shoulder.

"It's a long story." she half whispered.

"I have all morning." He replied comfortingly.

"There was an incident," she replied silently. "My dad, he had some scientists over. Something to do with his work. He was developing… _something_. I was only _five_. I was already two years ahead in school and, well, when I was five, I was as smart as a clever seven-year-old or a dumb eight-year-old. Whichever way you look at it. The incident, dad never brought work to the house ever again afterward. I was only a child and I was curious. I never… I didn't think that something like that would happen." Robin reached forward to put his hand on her shoulder and felt her shake silently. The other hand went to her cheek and he found tears.

He pulled her into a hug and waited for her to continue on her own.

"Seven years." she was whispering, lost in memory. "Seven years. _Seven years"_

"What was?" he asked gently.

"After the incident. I... I went into their lab. There were so many pretty colours and sparkly things that, as a child, I couldn't help myself. I fiddled. I touched. I moved. I messed around. I don't know when it happened but one of the vails fell and broke. My dad had told the scientists to make sure _everything_ was out of my way and to lock the door. They did neither. I don't know what happened to them after it happened.

"So the thing broke, spilling all this liquid on the floor. All I remember was how pretty the rainbow gas coming off it was. After that, it all went dark. I woke up a week later." Robin squeezed her in sympathy, support and caring. They were silent but Robin knew she had more to say so he waited silently for her.

"I didn't understand what they were telling me to begin with. All I knew was that my mum was crying her eyes out and my dad looked like he was debating murder, crying and hugging me. I know he did the first and last. Don't know about the second though." she smiled at the slight joke. "They kept telling me that it would be fixed. They said how sorry they were. That it was their fault. I didn't understand until my head got clearer and I started listening."

Robin didn't ask about why she referred to herself as a child back then. Wasnt she still a child?

"They explained it all to me. The chemicals, they… they messed with my body. I stopped. My age stayed the same. The formula could give somebody immortality but my dad destroyed all evidence of it. Nobody but him and the two scientists know what the formula is.

"So I was stuck as a five-year-old. My dad used everything he could to find a cure. He used every resource he had. Every favour. He nearly destroyed his whole company in his desperation.

"After the first year and a bit, he calmed down. He started thinking more rationally. He went through it all with a sensible mind. During that time, I learnt everything I could. I spent my time doing hobbies and learning. I am currently at university level in my worst subjects." she laughed slightly. "I am mentally seventeen, biologically ten and intellectually in my early twenties. Talk about a split personality." They laughed very gently, the mood lightening with the slight humour.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Well, I studied and became a certified, bonafide genius. My mum got annoyed because she had a teenage five-year-old. Now she has a childlike pre-teen." Grace added brightly. "My dad spent his time split between work, family and curing me. He was stressed but he had time for it all. He would work on his laptop at home but that was as much work that he would bring home. He loved us with all his heart and I think that what happened to me broke his heart. Luckily, he had me and mum to duct tape it back together.

"I was stuck as a five-year-old for seven years. I was mentally fourteen when my dad found the cure. I am currently a seventeen-year-old mentally. I have lived and breathed for seventeen years but I am only biologically ten. I am _seven_ _years_ ahead."

Robin rolled onto his belly and put his head on her shoulder, looking at her.

"That's not that bad. You're really advanced and smart and stuff," he remarked.

"And stuff?" she asked amused.

"You know what I meant." He snuggled closer to her and continued to use her as a pillow. "It still isn't really that bad. You're amazingly smart."

"Yeah when you say it like that then yes, it's quite cool," she replied. "But then, I can't go to school like a normal person because I know it all. I can't go to university because I am _way_ too young. By the time that I'm old enough, I'll be too smart for it anyway. I can't legally get a job. There is no solution so I'm just stuck. At least you get to have a normal life when you aren't Robin."

"I don't have a normal life outside of crime fighting." Robin was silent now and he didn't know where he was going with this.

"In what way?" she asked him curiously but there was a hint of something else. Another tone behind the curiosity.

"When I'm not Robin, I… I… I just don't have a normal life. I can't explain because it would mean revealing my _secret identity_." he sighed realizing that she had just told him her biggest secret but he couldn't open up to her.

"I think I may already know." Robin tensed when she said that.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

"When my mum got the job, she said that a black haired boy called Dick Grayson spoke to her. I looked into it and he came from the circus before being taken in by Bruce Wayne who is a billionaire playboy. I thought about it and, well, Dick Grayson would have the acrobatic skills and backstory to become the protege of Batman. Bruce Wayne would have the money, backstory, and alibi to be the Dark Knight. My mum got the job the _same_ _day_ after speaking to this black-haired boy. You also have black hair and you are a good friend of mine, giving you a reason to convince Bruce Wayne to hire my mum because you know that my mum needed the job."

When she stopped speaking, they were both silent for a minute. Robin didn't know how to respond. Was it really that easy to figure out their secret identities? But then it was Grace. She was a genius.

"So you think that I Dick Grayson?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," she replied hesitantly.

He was silent for a minute and Grace had no idea what he was going to do. She then felt him move and then the bedside lamp came on.

Blinking a few time to get used to the light, she sat up. She opened her eyes and they focused on the pair of blue eyes in front of her. She had never seen eyes like them. She looked over the whole face.

"Nah you look better with the mask on." she leaned across him and switched out the light. She curled back up into her bed and pulled the shocked Dick Grayson down next to her.

"That's it?" he asked.

"Shush. I am trying to sleep and you have disturbed it enough already." she shifted into a more comfortable position.

"You just told me the most important thing in your entire life and I revealed my _secret_ _identity_ to you and all you want to do is _sleep_?!" he was shocked and confused, and slightly relieved. Only slightly.

"Yes." She blatantly replied. "Quiet now. Sleep time."

"You can't tell anyone about my secret ID." He said trying to be serious.

"I don't know anybody but you and my mum," she replied yawning.

"That's sad," he said cuddling down next to her.

"Shush Dickie," she said laughing slightly.

"Don't call me that." he tried scolding.

"Yes birdie," she replied uncaringly.

"You do know that this has broken Batman's _biggest_ and most _important_ rule?" he asked her trying to scare her.

"Already broken one," she replied getting up to grab another blanket to fight the cold. She then climbed back into the bed.

"What do you mean?" he asked. When he got no answer, he tried shaking her. "Which rule have you broken?"

"I don't know why I try sleeping with you around," she said rolling over.

"Grace, tell me," he was sat up as stiff as a… stiff thing… stiff as a board.

"I not even going to try sleeping." She sat up and put one of the bedside lamps on at a dim setting.

"Which rule have you broken?" he urged her as she stretched and yawned.

"I'm going to go make hot chocolate." She slowly stood up stretching some more.

"Tell me right now." He tried being stern but she didn't care.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" she asked, turning her head to look at him as she walked to the door.

"No. I want you to tell me which rule you have broken." He was stood on the bed now glaring at her.

"I'll take that as a yes," she remarked as she started opening the door.

"Grace, tell me right now! Which rule have you broken?" he demanded.

"Well if you _so_ _insist_ ," she said as she started through the door, "Not metas in Gotham." with that, she left a shocked and bewildered Dick Grayson staring at the door, as dazed as a dandelion.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I really hope people are actually reading this!**

 **:)**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Go check out my other story, Islands! It's really great!**

 **If Lizzy is reading this, where did you go?**

 **Enjoy the chapter...**

* * *

This was weird. Dick was using the front door. He was also without his mask. He was Dick Grayson, walking to Grace's _front_ _door_.

Two people knew his identity. Grace and her mom. They knew his identity. This whole month was turning out to be really weird.

He climbed out of the car, saying goodbye to Alfred who had driven him. He walked to the building, went in and started up the stairs. So weird.

He reached her floor and went to the _front door_. Getting really weird. He rang the doorbell and patiently waited outside.

And waited.

And waited.

And the door opened revealing Grace's mom.

"Why hey there Dick, I was just off to work," she said smiling at him as she grabbed her bag.

"I was wondering if Grace was in?" he asked her politely. She tilted her head, obviously not used to Dick Grayson and not Robin.

"Sure. She is in her _lab of doom_ as far as I know. Just go on through." She slid past him, out of the apartment and he strolled in, closing the door behind him.

He had been coming here so much over the past few months that it was like another home and now he could come as both Dick Grayson _and_ Robin. It was great! And weird.

He kept trying to get her to tell him what she meant by 'no metas in Gotham'. She would just change the subject or just go quiet. He knew she was only doing it to annoy him though.

He had been trying for a _month_ now. It was getting exhausting.

On top of that, at some point this month, Batman had found out about Grace. It wasn't just Barman but the _whole_ league had found out at the same time. What's more, they also know about her mum and for some strange reason, they all loved her. He kept coming over to find Graces mum having a cup of tea and a chat with one of the league members. It was just weird.

Batman had gone silent for over a week when he found out that other people knew their secret identities. He got over it eventually though. Shame. Dick had been enjoying the silence. But then Bruce had to tell him to stop putting post-it notes everywhere eventually.

Dick strolled through her hallway and headed to the kitchen. He put the kettle on and grabbed some food. Finishing making two cups of tea, he carried them and the snacks to Grace's _lab of doom._ Her _lab of doom_ was the fourth door in her room. It was the one in between the bed and bookshelf.

Walking in, he dodged around the complete organised, neat, mess, bombshell like ordered room. It was crazy but it was organized and suited her perfectly.

Three walls had tables along them with bits, pieces, tools, and computers on. There was a circular table in the middle with her spinny chair in the middle of it. She had her current project taking up one half and her drawing/designing area and main computer on the other half. There was a designated space for the tea tray near the computer.

The last wall had these massive box shelf drawer things. In each compartment, was the blueprints, details, prototypes and finished product of her projects. Each compartment had better security than the Batcave.

The room itself was simply designed with the outside facing wall bare brick and the other three walls just a pale blue colour. She obviously liked blue.

Grace herself was sat cross-legged in her chair fiddling with a little piece of the massive thing on her desk.

The thing was about the size of Dick's torso and was shaped like a cone. The bottom was flat to stop it from rolling and it was quite cool looking. The large end looked like it gave out some form of wave.

The outside was a smooth, shiny looking metal and there was just a square missing from it showing the wires and circuits inside.

Grace looked up from her fiddling and looked at Dick and then to the drinks and then back to Dick.

"He's not wearing the mask." She always did this. "Shame." she went back to her fiddling.

"Wonderful to see you too," he said as he put down the tray and started looking at her blueprints to figure out what it was that she was making.

Grace looked up to see Dick looking at the blueprints.

"Nope," she said pulling him into her lap, trapping him with her arms as she kept fiddling.

"So…" he started, "you a meta?" he was full of hope.

"Maybe." he perked up at the answer. "Maybe not."

"Come on!" he cried throwing his head back so that he was looking up at her chin.

"Birdie," she started. "I may or may not be a meta. You will learn the answer once I have finished with this stupid thing that won't work."

"But I want to know now!" he cried dramatically. _Why is he always so dramatic?_ Grace thought to herself.

They sat there, Grace fiddling and Dick pouting, when they heard a little beep. Dick jumped at it and looked at Grace to see her grinning. He moved off her lap and sat on the edge of her table as she put the piece back into the thing on her table.

Dick patiently watched as she put the thing on the floor. He noticed three small lights on it. Grace picked up a holo tablet as she called it. The screen popped up and she typed a few things into it. The lights on the thing flashed and another little beep came out of it.

After typing a few more things, she sighed and put down the tablet. Walking past, she smacked Dicks hand as it discreetly moved towards the blueprints.

Dick clutched his hand dramatically to his chest as she began to rummage around one of the cable filled boxes. Lifting out a relatively chunky wire, she connected one end to the thing and the other into the wall.

She went back to the tablet and once again slapped his hand away from the blueprints. He only wanted to know what she was making.

She tapped the holo tablet, lights flashed and thingy majigs beeped.

After a few minutes of tapping, six ping pong ball sized spheres rose up from around the room and formed a hexagon roughly the size of a full grown fat man and a puppy. Little, barely visible lasers connected each sphere and the floating pentagon moved forwards and backwards, as if trying to find the best distance from the thingy on the table.

After another beep, it started continually buzzing. Grace once again put down the tablet. She strolled over to Dick and sat on the table next to him, grabbing her tea and sipping it.

"So," Dick looked at her innocently enough and she prepared for the worst. "What's it doing?" he was starting off simple.

"Charging." She answered, taking another sip of her tea, looking at him over the brim of the mug.

"What does it do?" he asked her trying to get more details.

"Charge." She was really not making this easy.

"Besides charging?" he was determined as he drank his tea.

"Well," she was actually going to explain. Finally, "the lights flash, the thing beeps and the thingy buzzes."

"Is that all?" he asked drinking his tea more. She took another sip and then motioned for him to come closer. He leaned in and she whispered into his ear.

"It can…" she was dragging this out way too much. "Connect…" seriously, what was with all the pauses. "To any device using Bluetooth." she whispered it as if it was the greatest secret known to man.

"I hate you." Dick declared, sitting back and pouting with a cookie half in his mouth.

"Ah well," she sighed dramatically. "I am sure that my thingy maboo will get me new friends." she said, motioning towards the 'thingy maboo'.

"Sure," was the sarcastic reply. "They will all be flocking to see your beeping, flashing, buzzing thingy maboo."

"Don't forget, it can also connect using Bluetooth," she reminded him, waving a cookie at him.

"Oh how could i have possibly forgotten that!" he cried dramatically.

Grace just laughed at him as she watched the thingy maboo. They sat there, drinking, sipping and eating as Dick attempted to read the blueprints, Grace swatted his hand and they both watched the thingy maboo.

Rubbing his now red and sore hand, Dick looked at the thingy maboo just as it buzzed, beeped and flashed at the same time. It kept flashing.

"Why exactly does it keep flashing?" He asked her, slightly mesmerized by the pattern of the flashing.

"Because it has absolutely no dignity or morals and is a disgusting thing." She replied calmly, soon joining Dick in laughter.

Once the giggling stopped, she replied seriously.

"It is flashing, my dear, because it has completed stage one of charging. It will stop flashing in a minute."

"So why is there a stage one?" he asked as it stopped flashing and only one of the lights stayed on.

"The stage one shows that it has enough charge for a small _event_ ," she gave away no clues. "Stage two is enough for one normal or two small _events,_ and stage three is enough for four small, two normal or one big _event_."

"Okay," he wasn't finished. Not by far. "So what exactly is an _event?"_

She looked at him and sipped tea. And looked. And sipped. And looked. He tried the bat glare. It worked on The Flash. She just laughed and turned away.

He continued to pout with cookies and she kept watching the thingy maboo. Dick gave up with the blueprints if only to save his hand.

It buzzed, beeped and flashed again. They continued to wait. After half an hour, it buzzed, beeped and flashed again.

Grace took one last bite of a cookie, stretched and stood, walking over to the thingy maboo.

She tapped it and it beeped. She tapped it again and it beeped again. She did it again, turning her tapping into a rhythm and it beeped along to the rhythm. Pleased, she walked back to the tablet and turned it on again.

Tapping away, she completely ignored Dicks questions. After a few more taps, it beeped and she pressed one more thing before sitting back next to Dick.

Dick watched, slightly amazed as it shot an almost invisible cone of light towards the hexagon and then the space inside the shape was filled with a glowing swirling pale thing that gently changed colour.

Grace casually picked up a paper aeroplane. Dick noticed there was something written on it but before he could read it, she threw it into the _thing_ and it disappeared.

They sat there, watching the _thing_ , Dick didn't know what for, and they waited, once again, Dick didn't know what for.

After two bathroom and one tea/snack break, something happened. It started swirling and warping until it shot out the same paper aeroplane, but now it looked more crumpled and it had some dirt on the bottom of it.

Grace easily caught it and opened it up, holding it at an angle as she read it, stopping Dick from being able to read it.

"So what is it?" He only wanted to know.

"This is a paper aeroplane that has a little message on it."

"Yes, but where did it come from?" He asked exasperated.

"Well the paper came from a tree and I don't know where the ink came from." She gave him a look of 'are you stupid?'

"I hate you." He crossed his arms and pouted.

"Oh we are such good and close friends, are we not?" she asked mocking him.

"No." he snapped. "We are not."

"Oh the pain!" she cried dramatically, clutching her chest and actually giving off a good act of being in pain. She dropped to the floor and started crying. She could cry on will! She wailed and rolled around on the floor actually looking like he had broken her heart.

"Please stop." he meekly begged her.

"How can I?" she cried oh so dramatically. "My heart! It hath been broken, destroyed! Beyond all repair! I think I shall never recover!" her movements slowed until she lay on her back, legs on the chair, one hand on her chest and the other reaching towards Dick, a look of brokenness in her eyes.

"I'm going to go make tea," Dick said slowly and cautiously.

"Can I have a cuppa please," she asked without changing her expression or position and yet her face still looked like her heart had been ripped out and burned in front of her eyes.

"Sure." he walked out leaving her to look dramatically broken and upset.

Once he was gone, Grace stood up and looked around her. She packed up her current experiment, deciding to finish it tomorrow and walked out her _laboratory of doom_.

She tapped her fingers against her leg. It wouldn't be that bad to tell him about her powers. But then again, everyone knew that the bats didn't like metas in Gotham. She knew _he_ wouldn't be like the others but, old habits die hard.

She walked down the corridor, bringing up a holo-screen in front of her as she walked. Looking where he was, she set off.

Grace watched Dick make the tea from the landing. She knew that he didn't know she was here.

She closed her eyes for a few minutes, and when she opened them, everything was grey except a blurry colour that resembled the shape of Dick. Grace never knew if she saw peoples auras or their souls. She also didn't think that there was a difference.

Robins aura/soul was mostly the same red as his costume with black in a bubble in the middle. The darkness was held back by swirling colours of yellow and blue. The red was who he was. It was his main essence.

Everybody had a different colour and they all had little details. She assumed that the extra colours were colours given to them by others. Babies had purely their own colour but she noticed that children had a bit of their parents. Adults were swirling colours with their own as the most prominent colour and about ten other colours representing the people closest to them. It was a sad sight to see an adult with very few colours.

The blue and yellow weren't from Batman and Alfred (yes she had met Alfred) though because Batman was a navy blue that was surrounded by darkness with exactly ten swirling colours and a small but bright lightness in his heart and Alfred was a prominent silver that outshone the darkness in his heart. Alfred had the most colours that Grace had ever seen on a person and it was the most heartwarming sight.

Every person had some form of darkness and Grace could always tell from looking, where the darkness had come from. It was unique on every person though.

The two colours that swirled around Dick must have been from his parents. He had told her about his past, and from what she had heard, the colours seemed to match the descriptions of his parents. She knew that no matter what other colours came and went, he would always have a blue like his eyes and a yellow as bright as his smile swirling around him, protecting him from the darkness within.

Grace sighed and looked down to her own hands. They rested on the grey banister and blended in. She had never seen her own aura/soul. She sometimes wondered if that meant that she didn't have one.

She turned her hand over, still nothing. Just a grey hand. She was just a grey person in a grey world. The only thing she ever saw on herself, was a tiny tiny little fleck of gold that rested just above her heart. She knew that colour, it was her dads.

A single tear fell and she hastily wiped it away and as she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a normal, colourful scene.

Dick still hadn't seen her so she turned away to head back to her room. She would tell him. Even if only about that one power. He needed to know that his parents were still with him.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry!**

 **I've been busy! I am so sorry for the wait!**

 **Hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

Grace hadn't told him yet. She hadn't had a chance. They had drank their tea, watched some tv and then he left, without her finding a way to tell him.

Now, she was wondering around Central City. It was a day out to buy some stuff for her new project. She had needed some wires and stuff.

The trip may also have been about seeing The Flash. So far, nothing had happened on that end of things but on the bright side, she had wires powerful enough to withstand the energy that she would be blasting through her project.

As Grace lazily strolled down the street, she looked around her. There was so much gray. Most buildings were gray or brick. Sure it was nice with the sun shining down on it all but it was just… not that great. She missed England because back over there, the buildings were intercepted with some really beautiful old wooden beamed buildings and they had castles dotted around the country. She missed England.

She found herself in a park. This was better. More green and pretty. She walked slowly down the path, enjoying the sun. It was never sunny in Gotham.

She turned a corner and tripped straight over a boy in a wheelchair.

She leaped to her feet and started apologising profusely.

"I am so sorry! I didn't even see you. I was just in a world of my own. I am so sorry!" she helped him back into his wheelchair and looked him over.

"It's fine." he laughed it off and settled back into his chair. "So what you doing out here?" he asked her.

"I came out for a day trip," she replied smiling. "I live in Gotham."

"Sounds like a wonderful place," he said smiling as he started down the path.

"I have a feeling you are being sarcastic with me." She laughed, mocking offence as she walked alongside him.

"I could never do that to you," he said kindly, slightly mockingly.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Twelve," he replied indignantly. "How old are you?"

"I'm… eleven," she said.

"Where are your parents?" he asked rebellious.

"I am alone," she replied smugly. "Where are yours?"

"They're not here," he replied sulkily. "I'm _bonding_ with a new _family_ _member_. He is probably panicking about my whereabouts."

"Well that sounds fun," she replied.

They walked on for a bit when they heard someone yelling. He pushed himself behind some bushes quickly and hid, leaving her out in the open, very confused and bewildered.

Soon a man came running around the corner looking absolutely terrified. He was yelling a name at the top of his lungs. He didn't even see Grace. Just ran straight past.

The boy came out from behind the bushes and they continued on as if nothing had happened. They talked and laughed about stuff. It was a nice experience.

This incident repeated. The boy hiding, the man running past, never noticing Grace who just stood there calmly and slightly confused.

As they walked along, they continued chatting brightly.

"So," Grace was curious. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you in a wheelchair?"

"I was in a car crash about a year ago and injured my knees. They can't support my weight. The doctors say that with a lot of physio I may be able to walk on crutches but it would take time, operations, physio and money."  
She looked down at him. He was only a kid. Well, technically he was a year older than her but still, he was just a kid.

"I can help," she said slowly, thinking back to some technology that she had worked on once. She had soon stopped, not knowing what to do with it. Now there were ideas forming.

"Really?" he asked sounding doubtful. "How can _you_ help?"

"Well," she said thinking. "I may be able to use tech and science to make something that would give you the ability to walk again."

He stopped, looking up at her so hopeful. She smiled down at him, finishing the base plan in her mind.

"I would need measurements and you would need to come to Gotham so I can do it but I think I can help you walk again," she said quietly, thinking.

"You could actually do it?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes," she said, getting more confident. "Yes, I can."

He smiled up at her so openly. It melted her heart.

They exchanged details (he gave her his name) and parted ways. She heard a relieved yell, presuming it came from the boys ' _family member'_ , she walked away with a slight bounce in her step.

She walked into a wifi cafe and ordered a tea and cake. She took a seat in the corner and pulled out her laptop.

Using the wifi, she googled the name. Out of curiosity.

Most pages were irrelevant. She scrolled down until she found a newspaper website. It was about the crash.

A train had derailed due to a villain, crashing into the highway, destroying cars and trucks. Ten killed. He had been in a minibus with three other schoolmates on his way to the junior science fair. He was the only survivor from his school. Two of the pupils and one of the teachers died on site. The other pupil and teacher died in hospital.

The whole story was barely noticed due to everyone celebrating a new green lantern capturing the villain. The next day, everything was normal and nobody thought of those who had died. The world was oblivious to the ten deaths that were caused by the crossfire. This type of thing never happened in England.

Grace closed her laptop and took a sip of her tea.

She tapped her finger on the table, thinking of what to do next. Her lift wouldn't arrive for another two hours.

She could go look at the science museum but she'd already been. How about shopping? Nah, much too boring. What was there to do?

Her phone buzzing brought her out of her musings. It was a message from Dick.

 **D: Grace!**

Grace calmly took a sip of her tea.

 **D: Drop whatever you are doing and text me!**

Grace slowly and calmly took a sip of her tea as she read the message and placed the cup back down before waiting for the next message.

 **D: Grace!**

 **D: Grace!**

 **D: This is important**

Grace took one last sip before responding.

 **G: I'm sure it's not that important but go on anyway**

 **D: It is important! You won't believe this at all!**

 **G: I'm sure i will believe it**

 **D: There is a…**

Grace took another, uncaring, sip of her tea.

 **G: A what?**

 **D: Another protege!**

Grace took another sip.

 **G: I know**

 **D: ...how?**

 **G: I made his bow and quiver. His names Speedy, or Roy Harper and he is the protege of Green Arrow after Oli adopted him.**

 **D: Oh.**

There was a pause whilst Dick thought about it.

 **D: Since when did you make people bows?**

That's the part that he questioned?

 **G: Why do you think superheroes come to my house so often?**

 **D: I thought they just liked chatting with your mum**

 **G: That as well but I make them tech, my mum gives them tea, cake, and advice. They do like her but they are mainly there for tech and advice**

 **D: Then why does Bruce visit your house?**

 **G: To know what you are doing Wednesday nights**

 **D: You haven't told him have you?**

 **G: No! He has yet to break me or my mum but he is determined to know**

 **D: He doesn't understand, does he?**

 **G: I think he thinks we're dating**

 **D: …**

 **G: Yeah**

 **D: So anyway…**

 **G: Yeah next topic**

 **D: What type of things do you make for the superheroes?**

 **G: Well, I made Flash a thingy majiggy that tells him his speed, calorie burn and heart rate for when he's training. He is trying to find the most efficient speed and technique. It wasn't anything impressive.**

 **D: Cool. What have you made superman? He's always at your house**

 **G: Oh he just likes chatting with my mum and drinking tea. I think my mums teaching him to knit. He also gets relationship advice. I made him just basic things like a mobile phone and stuff that won't break in his hands. You know, super strength.**

 **D: Ha! Poor Superman. So… what about martian manhunter?**

 **G: I made him a communication device so that he can broadcast tv and stuff to mars and so he can talk with his family more often.**

 **D: That's really sweet. Aquaman?**

 **G: Underwater working tech.**

 **D: Hmm… Captain Marvel?**

 **G: Gaming station**

 **D: Really?**

 **G: The greatest gaming device that has ever existed**

 **D: Okay then. Green Arrow?**

 **G: Bow**

 **D: Green lantern?**

 **G: High-speed motorbike for one and a fancy thingy that does stuff for the other**

 **D: That does stuff**

 **G: And awesome stuff**

 **D: Hawkman?**

 **G: I made him and Hawkwoman devices that allow them to basically see whatever they want around them so they can fly around and be aware of what's around them but also feel as if they are back home**

 **D: That's cool. Red Tornado?**

 **G: A friend**

 **D: Care to elaborate?**

 **G: Nope**

 **D: Wonder woman?**

 **G: She doesn't need technology according to herself.**

 **D: Sounds like Dianna. There isn't anyone left is there.**

 **G: That's em all**

 **D: So… you know green arrow's secret id?**

 **G: Yeah he came to ours after having adopted Roy and he was having a complete meltdown. He had no idea what to do or how to act. It was a spur of the moment thing apparently.**

 **D: Huh. Well, they seem like friends when I met Roy. Maybe a bit mentor and protege but not anything like parental at all.**

 **G: We should invite him round for movie night**

 **D: Oli?**

 **G: NO! Roy!**

 **D: Oh, of course. Yep, brilliant idea**

 **G: Great I'll text him**

 **D: You have his number**

 **G: I have everyone's number**

 **D: Good point. So…**

 **G: Yes?**

 **D: You a meta?**

 **G: Yes**

 **D: ...what? You actually answered**

 **G: If that's all you want…**

 **D: NO! I have so many questions**

 **G: You can ask two**

Grace rolled her neck and sighed as she looked at her phone, waiting for him to decide on his questions. She took another sip of her seemingly endless tea and continued waiting.

 **D: Okay I know what I'm going to ask**

 **G: I'm waiting…**

 **D: What's your power?**

 **G: Which one?**

 **D: Are you messing with me?**

 **G: No. Which one?**

 **D: Errm. You have more than one?**

 **G: You've just asked three questions. Over the limit**

 **D: NO! That doesn't count!**

 **G: And then Grace leaves poor little birdy to wonder about what her ability could possibly be as she goes to buy more cake**

 **D: Don't you dare end this conversation**

Grace turned off her phone and slipped it into her bag. She made sure she hadn't left anything before she stood up to leave.

She walked outside and strolled down the street, stopping at an adorable bakery, buying three cakes, one for her, her mum and birdy because she knew that he would be waiting for her when she got home.

She stretched her arms out behind her as she walked down the sunny street. This place was nice.

After a few minutes, Grace arrived in front of a certain cafe that she was being picked up from. She didn't wait long as only a few minutes after arriving, a car pulled up in front of her and she could see her mum sat in the driving seat.

When she got in, she realized that her mum was talking on the hands-free so Grace just smiled and waved, her mum responding with the same and a questioning thumbs up.

Grace waved the thumbs up off, indicating that the day had been perfect.

She looked out the window as her mum started driving. The world passed by as a blur. A blink and now the world passed by gray, intercepted by the occasional blurs of swirling colours. It was beautiful.

Graces mum was a dark amethyst. There was a golden swirl going around (Grace's dads) and a few other colours that were the family and friends that they had left behind in England. There wasn't a colour that represented Grace.

Grace looked at herself in the rearview mirror. She could see a faint amethyst swirling around her. It made her smile knowing her mum was a part of her now.

She occasionally thought that she could see a very, _very_ faint red which she assumed to be Dicks colour. It warmed her heart. She wasn't just blank anymore. She may not have her own colour, but she had others to give her theirs.

Grace smiled down at her hands. Two colours were more than she had ever hoped for. Three if she counted the little golden speck above her heart.

Looking back out the window, the world was once again normal colours.

She took a deep breathe and leaned back, at peace with her life, for the first time in years.

* * *

 **Points to anybody that can guess who she met in the park.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Sorry!**_

 **I've had exams and problems at home!**

 **I'm currently on holiday but I have internet so I can get this chapter to you.**

 **Also, Lizzy, if you're reading this, then I just want to say, with all my heart, with the whole of my soul... hi.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Speedy couldn't believe the situation he was in. He had been invited to a movie night by a girl who he only knew because she had made his equipment. Also because she had given Oliver some advice about teenagers. What did an eleven-year-old know about teenagers? And why did it take Ollie so long to ask someone for advice?

He sighed and looked down at the fire escape. Why couldn't he just use the front door? Why did he have to scale the roofs of Gotham and then climb down to the window? There were front doors for a reason.

A cackle cut him from his thoughts. Without thinking, he had an arrow notched in his bow and was crouched down in a defensive position. He looked around him cautiously.

"Friend," he heard an amused voice say with a slight giggle. "I'm a friend."

From the shadows, Robin emerged with his hands in the air and giggles escaping his cocky grin.

Speedy grinned, putting away his bow and straightening up.

"What's a little boy like you doing alone in a big and dark city?" Speedy laughed sarcastically. Robin rolled his eyes and tutted.

"Grace said she invited you," Robin replied, heading to the edge of the roof.

"Yeah," Speedy replied, turning to Robin. "She also said to watch out for annoying birdies."

Robin looked like the world had offended him at that statement. He shot out a grappling hook and soon disappeared into the window. Laughing, Speedy followed him in.

When he entered, he saw Grace laughing her head off as Robin 'confronted' her.

"First of all, I am _not_ annoying!" Robin was waving his arms around as he spoke. "I am a wonderful and _nice_ person! I'm not annoying at all! Secondly, _birdie_ is a name that only you call me! You don't refer to me by it to others! You just call me it! To my face! Not behind my back! Thirdly, why were you even talking about me when i wasn't here! I thought friends didn't talk about each other behind the others backs! You have betrayed me! I thought you were my closest, greatest friend but you just bad mouth me behind my back calling me names!"

Grace was laughing so hard, she was making no noise and was just clapping like a seal. Speedy couldn't help it and burst out laughing himself.

Robin looked between the two, shocked, offended and very _very_ slightly amused. He grabbed two cushions from the sofa and threw them at the other two. Grace just got hit in the head and fell onto the bed, still laughing. Speedy halfheartedly raised his arms, partially blocking the blow. As soon as the cushion fell to the floor, Speedy leapt to the bed.

He was kneeling on the bed and had a pillow in each hand. Grace lying on her side behind him.

"The war has begun." as soon as the words left his mouth, Robin froze and Grace jumped up, one of the two cushions that Robin had thrown from the sofa in her hands.

Panicking, Robin looked around him. There was a clear absence of any form of pillow or cushion. He dove for the one he had thrown at Speedy but his move had been guessed and a pillow came swinging up in front of him.

Grace rushed behind Robin, screaming a war cry.

Robin managed to dodge the cushions that were swinging towards him from Grace but as he did so, Speedy scored two more hits.

Robin faced them both. They stood side by side. All the remaining cushions behind them. Robin didn't know how they had got there.

He went to move but they moved with him. They watched closely, anticipating his every move. His only option was to rush them and pray that they didn't see it coming.

As he started running towards them, they started running with him. They collided, four cushions hitting Robin.

After a scramble of confused limbs, Speedy had Robin pinned on the floor, one hand holding his right arm, his legs holding down Robin's legs and his other arm. The other arm held a pillow, poised to hit him any minute.

Robin couldn't see Grace. That was bad. He tried twisting but two cushions came at him, one from each side, hitting his head in a pincer movement. Robin had found Grace.

There was a pause, Speedy, and Robin looking at each other, a fearful expression from the masked face of the younger vigilante and a confident smirk from the older vigilante.

Suddenly, all pillows and cushions were dropped and instead of a pillow war, he was assaulted with tickles. He held on for as long as he could, pressing his lips together but nevertheless, giggles escaped from his mouth and full out, stomach aching laughs erupted from his mouth. He laughed and twisted as the two continued to torture him with the tickles.

The attack went on until they ran out of breath and were panting. They continued giggling and laughing occasionally as Speedy got off Robin and Grace began to stand up.

There were grins all around as they stood up, the night had gone off to a great start. They turned to the bed, occasionally pushing one or the other gently, still laughing at the smallest of things.

Speedy turned around, a mischievous grin on his lips, as he looked to Grace, about to say a joke, her eyes rolled back in her head and she went completely limp. She fell, hitting the bookcase. Robin was just stepping forward when the bookcase hit him on the head, knocking him out cold.

Robin was skipping behind Grace when he saw Speedy turn. Robin didn't trust that look. The look then changed to panic. What was happening to Grace? He couldn't see her face.

Robin watched her falling, dread settled deep in his stomach as he stood there, frozen. He registered her hitting the bookcase and went to step forward when pain exploded on the back of his head. He fell to the ground, dimly aware of Speedy lunging forward screaming his name. Speedy didn't know what to do. Robin was very dazed looking and bleeding from his head and Grace had a bookcase on top of her, just her arm could be seen from underneath it. He began by lifting the bookcase off of Grace. Grace was just moving enough to be breathing. Speedy watched as Robins eyes closed. _Oh shit._ He thought to himself.

Robin wasn't focussing on any of that. His eyes were fixed on the carpet. As darkness consumed his vision, the little fire, started by the little candle filled what was left of his vision. The back of his head managed to register that fire was bad just as the fire spread and the darkness consumed him.

Speedy rolled Grace over, checking her breathing. Once he had done that, he went to Robin, checking his head. It wasn't bad. Just enough of a hit to knock him out.

As Speedy went to move back a bit, he overbalanced in his crouch. He shot out a hand behind him to support himself but was met with a searing pain. He cried out, falling backward and clutching his hand to his chest. He looked to his side, panic filling his eyes at the sight of the not so small fire that was edging its way towards the big wooden chest at the bottom of Grace's bed. It had already reached the sofa, just beginning to climb up the leg.

He leapt up, glancing around quickly, looking for a solution. His eyes settled on the door to the lab. _Grace kept a fire extinguisher next to the door!_ He thought to himself as he vaulted over the bed and went to open the door. It was locked.

His head whipped around in panic. There were two doors to the lab but he knew that the other door was blocked by a lot of stuff. He also didn't know how to get to it.

He kicked at the door. Solid. He ran to the bathroom, useless, nothing to carry water in. From the bathroom, he looked across the bedroom. The figures of his two unconscious friends and the fire at the edge of his vision, as it edged towards them. His eyes were focused on the door.

He took a deep breath and ran, positioning his right shoulder to the door. The door shuddered, splintering around the hinges but not opening. One more charge, however, and it would open easily. He ignored the pain in his shoulder and went at it again, the door falling in beneath him. He coughed a bit from the dust of the door splitting. He'd done it. He had actually done it. He looked around, eyes searching for the red of the fire extinguisher. Spotting it, he ran back into the room, ignoring the smoke that was choking the air from his lungs. He aimed it and fired it towards the fire which had reached Graces left shoulder. It was going to leave a burn. As her top set alight, he fired it towards his friends, putting out the fire near them.

Soon the whole area where there had been a fire was encased in white foam with two lumps underneath that were his friends.

Just because the fire was gone didn't mean the smoke was gone. Lightheaded, Speedy took two steps towards his friends, planning on digging them out but before he reached them, he fell, landing on his right side, searing pain shooting through his shoulder. The pain mixed with the smoke inhalation caused his vision to fade until he joined his friends.

oOo

The first thing Grace thought when consciousness graced to join her again was simple really.

 _I had an episode. How am I supposed to explain this to Dick?_

Then she realized she was sprawled on the floor, covered in some strange wet substance like it was a blanket and she could very clearly smell burning. Burning and burnt meat.

 _What was there to burn?_

A slightly warm, stinging sensation on her shoulder revealed what the smell was from.

 _What set it on fire though?_

Then she remembered a crucial thing.

 _The candle._

She went to sit up but dizziness brought her right back down as she succumbed once again.

oOo

Bruce was peacefully sat in his office working when his phone rang. It was his personal phone so it wasn't Batman related.

He picked it up, answering politely, not knowing who was on the other end.

"Hello, this is Bruce Wayne speaking." On the other end of the line, he could hear people speaking in the background.

"Hi Bruce, it's Louise," he heard a harried female voice on the other end instantly recognizing it as Grace's mom.

"Ah yes," he said actually smiling. "How's the Business trip going?"

"Absolutely terrible," she replied, obviously annoyed. "I am truly surprised that this whole Moscow department has not collapsed. Anyway, that isn't the reason I'm calling. Grace told me that she would call to tell me that she and the boys had successfully made dinner and that they were safe and sound by nine. Its half five here meaning its half nine over in Gotham and she still hasn't got in contact."

Bruce listened to her, thinking as he heard her pause and muffled voices talking as someone obviously wanted her attention.

"I know that I am most likely being paranoid but could you look into it for me, please? She is probably too engrossed in a movie or so but just to be safe."

Bruce frowned. He didn't believe in being paranoid.

"Of course I'll look into it for you," he replied reassuringly. "Whilst I get in contact with Dick, you should make some progress with my overseas department."

"Well what else is there to do?" she said mockingly. "Thanks Bruce. I'll be in a meeting for another hour or so. It could go on until after dinner. Just send me an email or message updating me if there's anything important. Once again, thank you so much. I'm sure its nothing."

"You're welcome," Bruce replied. "Have you told Grace about Sunday yet?" he asked absentmindedly.

"...no," she said hesitantly. "Have you told Dick?" she challenged.

"Of course!" he replied confidently.

"You haven't told him," she sighed. "See you Sunday Bruce. We both tell them tomorrow."

With a final goodbye, Bruce hung up the phone, letting Louise run off back to her meetings. Without putting the phone down, he selected Dicks robin number that was listed under 'R'.

As he waited for it to ring, he added Louise to his contacts. When the number went to voicemail, he stood up and headed to the grandfather clock.

He went down the stairs to the Batcave quickly but not hurriedly. He picked up his communicator and tried contacting Robin. He got nothing.

He tried Green Arrow who answered almost immediately.

" _Hey bats!"_ he said, obviously worried about something. " _How are the boys? Are they having fun? Is everything alright with them?"_

Bruce sighed, rubbing a hand down his face before answering in his Batman voice.

" _I haven't heard from Robin and can't get in contact with him. Grace's mother is having the same problem with Grace. Have you heard from Speedy?"_

He heard Oliver become serious straight away.

" _I've heard nothing. After he yelled at me for giving him no space I decided not to ask him much about tonight. I'll try him now."_

With that, the link cut out. As he waited, Bruce headed to the changing room. Even if everything turned out to be fine, he was still too stressed to go back to his office and would prefer to be scouring Gotham for crime.

Just as he walked out, Batman's communicator went off.

" _I… I can't get in contact with him."_ Oliver sounded terrified. " _No matter how angry with me, he promised that he would always answer me. I've tried everything."_

" _Okay,"_ Batman headed to the Batbike, choosing the faster option over the Batmobile. " _I'll take it from here."_

" _No,"_ Oliver tried protesting. " _I'm coming to find Roy."_

" _You are not coming, there is no time."_

" _I am_ not _losing Roy again!"_

There was a very obvious pause.

" _Again?"_ Batman asked suspiciously. Oliver had only officially adopted Roy a month ago. How could he lose him in that time?

" _I…"_ Batman heard Oliver curse under his breath. " _I'll tell you later,"_ Oliver spoke as if he had made the greatest mistake of his life. " _Right now, I am coming to help Roy."_

" _This is my city and you would just slow me down. Batman out."_

Batman knew that Oliver wouldn't try and come. There wasn't much point.

Batman covered the distance from the cave to Grace's apartment in no time, arriving in the alleyway that housed the fire escape of her building.

He had scaled it in seconds and as he got onto the level of her bedroom, there was the faint smell of burnt carpet and smoke.

Batman was through the window in milliseconds. It took him a few more seconds to take in the scene before him. Closest to him, Speedy lay with a fire extinguisher by his hands. One of his hands looked burnt and the other shoulder was swollen.

At the bottom of the bed, the floor and surrounding furniture was covered in the contents of the fire extinguisher. An undisturbed lump was undoubtedly Robin. The slightly disturbed lump must have been Grace. She must have woken up and then passed out again.

Batman carefully walked towards Speedy, with him being the closest to Batman. He knelt down next to the teen and looked at his shoulder. It was dislocated. Speedy being unconscious made this much easier.

Batman gripped the boy's arm and shoulder. A 'pop' sounded and the shoulder was back in the socket. However, this caused the boy to wake up with a cry of pain.

Speedy started coughing. It went from normal coughs to great hacking coughs. Batman helped sit him up properly and supported him as he coughed up the smoke.

When the coughing subsided, his head rolled back. Speedy's eyes wandered over everything, not focusing on anything.

Batman positioned him leaning against the bed and left him after wrapping his burnt hand in a bandage.

Next, Batman went to Robin. He gently wiped away the foam and turned his partner over. He opened his eyelid to check his eye. Robins breathing was fine and so was his pulse. A head wound seemed to be the cause of his unconsciousness. Looking around, Batman made the assumption that the head wound was caused by the bookcase falling on him.

After cleaning the wound and moving Robin away from the foam, Batman moved onto Grace.

Her breathing was fine but her pulse was erratic. It wasn't consistent in the slightest. However, when he started moving her, her eyes fluttered open, a groan escaping her lips as she lifted her right hand to her chest.

Her eyes focussed on Batman before closing as if in pain. She took a few deep breaths; looking like she was in clear pain.

When Batman tried to help, she pushed him away, sitting up with her right hand clutched over her heart and her left arm trying to get support but failing. The shoulder wasn't moving.

"It's fine," she said, pain evident in her voice. "I don't need any help. I'm used to it. It's just going to ache for a bit." she said with a slight grin.

"What's wrong with your pulse?" he asked, wanting to know if there was a problem that needed fixing.

"Nothing's wrong," she said looking up at him, slightly panting. "It just isn't perfect. It's not killing me so I'm fine."

"You are not fine!" he hadn't meant to snap. "Your pulse has no pattern to it whatsoever. That isn't normal and most definitely not _fine_."

"My pulse is fine!" she raised her voice. "I'm fine! It's all fine!" tears streaked down her face as her voice raised in volume.

Her arm gave out and she fell to the floor, making the foam puff up around her as she fell into it.

"Why is your pulse like that?" Batman asked, trying to speak gently. "Is there a problem? A way I can help?" he was concerned for her. She was in pain.

"There…" she sighed, her head dropping back into the foam. "No, there is nothing that can be done." quietly, she added on to that, "it's just the price I must pay."

Batman was silent. He picked up Grace despite her mild protests and he put her down, sitting on the bed with Robin behind her and Speedy next to her legs.

It was only when he picked her up and foam fell away from her, did Batman notice that the left shoulder of her top was completely burnt away but her skin was just a bit red as if it had been sunburnt. He put his hand to it, to feel the temperature but Grace swatted his hand away.

Speedy's eyes were still unfocused. Robin was still unconscious. Grace was hiding something. And the room was covered in white foam.

"They need medical attention," Batman told Grace, motioning towards his partner and Speedy.

"There's a medical room here, fully stocked," she motioned for him to follow as she stood up, wobbly.

Batman lifted Robin into his arm and wrapped his other arm around Speedy, half carrying him, half dragging him.

Grace wobbled to the door, waving Batman off every time he tried helping her walk. She reached the door and tried opening it only to have it fall to the ground, burnt through.

"Huh." She looked at it for a minute. She then turned her hand over and there was a burn mark. The metal of the handle had retained the heat from the fire. "Oh," was her only response. She went even more wobbly.

Stumbling over the remains of her door, Grace reached the wall of the hallway opposite to the door. She leant against it, looking like she was going to fall over.

Batman carefully stepped over the door, still carrying and dragging the two boys. He followed Grace as she lead the way. She managed to wobble her way all the distance to a door that was as far as it could be without involving stairs.

She opened the door and walked in, collapsing into one of the two chairs in the room. Batman carefully placed Robin on the bed before dropping Speedy into the other chair.

Grace gave no further help so Batman approached the large computer in the wall. He typed in the supplies he wanted and was provided with them almost instantly.

Done with the boys, he turned to Grace.

"Give me your hand," he told her in his best demanding tone.

"Why?" She asked sounding genuinely confused.

"You burnt it on the door handle," he told her motioning for her hand.

"It's fine," she said guardedly.

"You burnt it," he said irritated. "Give me your hand now."

Graced just sighed, rolling her eyes and put out her hand, palm up. There was no burn whatsoever. Where there had been a burn, there was just a redness as if it had been sunburnt. He stared at it. Grace pulled her hand back, looking away from him.

Batman looked to his partner instead who was slowly waking up. Grace was staring at the wall emotionlessly and Roy was slowly focusing more, his eyes had stopped darting and started focusing a few minutes ago. He now was staring at one arm in a sling and the other in a bandage. Robin had fully woken up and was now looking between the three other people in the room.

It was deathly silent and none of them were looking likely to move, let alone speak. That was until Grace surprised him.

"We should do this again sometime," she said with a smile, a genuine smile.

"Can we open a window next time?" Speedy spoke up next. "It was getting a bit hard to breathe."

"Yeah," Robin continued on. They were smiling but not laughing although the amusement was clear in their voices. "We also need more cushions, there wasn't much neck support."

Robin rubbed his neck to emphasize his point. The three of them started laughing at their jokes. The laughter was broken when the doorbell rang. They looked around uncertainty.

Grace then stood, getting a pointed look from Robin towards her shoulder. She just shrugged and left the room, still wobbly. Batman followed behind her, to ensure that it wasn't someone dangerous.

When she got to the door, she looked through the peephole and was greeted with the back of a blonde persons head. She stepped away, thought about and then swung the door wide open.

Ollie jumped around to face Grace. She looked tired and wobbly, there were still bits of foam on her and her tops left shoulder had been burnt away to leave just her red skin, looking like it was just sunburnt. She had random bits of black charred areas on her, like some of her hair.

Grace waited for Ollie to say something, he didn't, he just reached to the side of the door and lifted up a holdall. Raising an eyebrow, Grace let him in where he dumped the holdall on the floor.

"What happened?" he asked her as soon as the door closed.

"I will explain later," Batman spoke up from the shadows, walking over to where the bag had been dumped. He opened it to reveal clothes.

"I bought some for Roy and then went to the mansion," Ollie began explaining. "Alfred said that you were here and he gave me clothes for you and Dick."

Batman nodded, leading the three back to where Robin and Speedy were waiting.

Following behind, Grace wasn't thinking of anything related to the thoughts of the others. She was too busy thinking.

When they entered the medical room, she couldn't help but notice how the scented candle's fire grew as she passed. And how it shrunk as she breathed out. She couldn't help but notice how it was affected by her being near it. How she was affecting the candle. She moved her hand slightly. The flame moved slightly. She could control the fire. That was new.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and please be patient for the net chapter, I** **promise that it will be worth it.**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Geus whos back?! It's me! I know, I know I'm terrible for not updating but, hi.**

 **Lizzy,**

 **Happy Birthday! If anyone else reads this, plz say happy birthday to Lizzy in the reviews bit because she is amazing and has really helped with this story. Also, this chapter is kinda her birthday present.**

 **So please do enjoy this chapter that is set in the future.**

* * *

 _ **9 YEARS LATER**_

8:00 pm _, Bludhaven_ Hospital

Roy and Wally sat beside each other on a hospital floor, leaning against the wall. The corridor was empty apart from a few doors. They sat outside one specific door, listening to the yelling coming from within.

The smell of disinfectant filled their noses and they could hear the bustle of the hospital around them. These rooms were quiet. There wasn't much of a rush here. There's only so many chemicals you can put into a person to save them.

A few nurses came and went but other than that, the two friends were alone.

Roy was wearing his red arrow outfit, a simple jacket over the top and his mask off seemed to hide his identity. His bow and quiver were in the car.

Wally was a silent mess. He had tear tracks on his face and clearly hadn't slept in days. He wore jeans, a top and a random hoodie that looked like it had been pulled from the bottom of his wardrobe.

Dick and Grace were inside the room behind them.

"How long do you think they'll keep yelling?" Wally said absent-mindedly.

"Well ones dying," Roy answered, letting his head hit the wall with a thunk.

"And the others lying," Wally answered, letting his head fall to his knees.

"Any plans for your birthday?" Roy asked, trying to make some sort of distraction.

"I was planning a big meal," he said, looking into space. "My whole family was gonna come and then Grace has just gone and invited half the world which I honestly can't complain about."

"Yeah," Roy slightly laughed. "I think I got an invitation."

"I'd be surprised if you didn't," Wally responded, laughing slightly. The mood was lightened only momentarily until the yelling behind them increased. The two friends continued with light conversation, trying to distract from the chaos behind them.

They sat there for hours, the yelling continuing, only intercepted by a cough every now and then. A buzz indicated a text from Bruce. He wouldn't be able to get there for another eight hours.

"And nobody else is free, are they?" Wally asked, looking at Roy's phone.

"Absolutely nobody," he replies. "How convenient."

"Well we are in the middle of an invasion," Wally stood as he spoke, stretching.

"It's nearly midnight," Roy commented, looking at his phone.

"I haven't eaten since lunch," Wally sighed.

"Go grab us some food, you and your metabolism need it," Roy handed him some money. Wally looked at the money, nodded then sped off, eager to get back quickly.

"It's going to be a long night," Roy murmured to himself as the yelling inside paused for five minutes due to coughing.

Wally came back, and they ate. They settled down to wait. It really was a long night.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it but I don't really think I did too well on this chapter.**

 **Happy birthday Lizzy! Love ya xx**

 _ **Sheep Queen**_


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